By Iddi Yire
Accra, May 05, GNA – The Centre for Applied Research and Innovation in Supply Chain – Africa (CARISCA) has organized a Supply Chain Action Network (SCAN) Meeting in Accra.
The one-day meeting on the theme “Supply Chain Traceability: Improving Africa’s Agriculture and Health Sectors”, discussed supply chain traceability, the key to unlocking the potential of Africa’s agricultural and health sectors.
CARISCA is a Centre of Excellence established at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in partnership with the Arizona State University and sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
It seeks to improve supply chains throughout Africa.
Its mission is to transform African supply networks through education, research, and action.
CARISCA supports and builds capacity by finding solutions to complex development problems through education and training, bolstering the talent pipeline, and engaging private sector partners and policymakers in applying research best practices.
Professor Nathaniel Boso, Director of CARISCA and Dean of the KNUST Business School, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at the SCAN Meeting in Accra, said the event was a platform for thought leaders, policymakers and industry experts to discuss the challenges and opportunities surrounding supply chain traceability in Africa’s agricultural and health sectors.
He said participants at the meeting explored the adoption of cutting-edge technologies and the establishment of effective cross-sector collaboration to enhance supply chain traceability.
He noted that from June 20-23, CARISCA would host the third annual Supply Chain Research Summit in Accra.
He said this year’s summit would take an in-depth look at “Africa’s Supply Chains and the Future of Work”.
Prof Dale S. Rogers of the Supply Chain Management Department at Arizona State University and Principal Lead Investigator of CARISCA, in virtual presentation noted that CARISCA would advance research, translation and training in supply chain management and address barriers to development caused by insufficient and ineffective supply chains, especially in health and agriculture, to drive Ghanaian and Pan-African self-reliance and increase the impact of USAID investments.
Mr Stephen Acheampong, the Senior Officer for certification bodies monitoring in-charge of Africa, Rainforest Alliance, said supply chain traceability was the process of tracking the origin and journey of products and their inputs, from the very start of the supply chain through to the end-user.
Speaking in the topic “Supply Chain Traceability in Agriculture, Ghana and Africa’s Perspective”, Mr Acheampong focused on the agriculture sector, examining the significance of traceability in ensuring food safety, reducing waste, and supporting sustainable practices.
He shared successful case studies from across the continent, demonstrating how traceability had improved productivity, market access and profitability for African farmers within the cocoa value chain industry; citing case studies from Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, and Cameroun.
Madam Bindiya Vakil, the Chief Executive Officer of Resilinc, in virtual a presentation entitled “Building Resilience into Your Health Sector Supply Chain by Understanding your Sub-Tier Supplier Network”, said Africa was well situated for long-term supply chain success; citing the availability of clean energy, raw materials and resources, and access to technology.
She illustrated how supply chain mapping helped companies better understand the health care supply chain landscape and who the players were, down to the supplier, site, and part level.
Dr John Frimpong Manso, Senior Technical Advisor in-charge of Capacity Building and Training, CARISCA, speaking to the Ghana News Agency said CARISCA was a five-year project sponsored by the USAID but has been run by the KNUST and the Arizona State University.
He said the CARISCA Project, which was in its third-year hinges on two sectors – health supply chain and agriculture supply chain; stating that the whole idea was to conduct more research, build more stakeholders engagement and to see how best to address the identified challenges.
GNA